Change of Plans
by Lyndalion16
Summary: Oneshot. One thing that Temari and Shikamaru had in common was the skill of strategy. But sometimes, things don't always go according to plan, especially not life.....


(NOTE): I couldn't resist! I've had this idea in my brain for a while and I just needed to get it out! It's another one-shot and this has ShikaxTema in it. Oh and sorry for any grammatical errors!

BTW: This ------ means I'm switching from Temari's perspective to Shikamaru's for a while and then back.

**Disclaimer:** Believe me, if I owned the characters, I'd gloat about it...

* * *

She had been born into a strict political family. 

_Authority had been dissolved into her blood._

She had grown up with a sadistic, demon-possessed brother.

_It had forced her to exercise extreme caution._

She had lived her entire life to this point as a ninja.

_Useful traits had buried themselves into her very soul: strength, patience, speed, mettle, endurance..._

She had always trained herself to be the very image of a strong, powerful woman ready to physically, mentally, and emotionally handle anything that was thrown at her.

_Then why the hell couldn't she handle **this?!**_

Receiving searing migraines while making difficult decisions, nursing gashing wounds and broken bones, and massaging sore muscles after long dangerous missions were one thing; childbirth was another.

More like all three put together.

She couldn't even **scream**, for crying out loud; the damn _pain _was too **_intense! _**All she could do was make a weird straining noise that made her sound like she was constipated.

There were only two positive things about any of this and one of them, spouting out any and every curse and insult at anything and anyone she wanted without thinking and worrying about the consequences and feelings she might hurt, was now GONE!

She was positive that if her boyfriend's hand wasn't already broken, the bones would undoubtedly be crushed into powder very soon if this kept up!

_GOOD! Let him feel my pain! Serves the bastard right for doing this to me!!_

She had bellowed this over and over again already, but, right now, who freaking CARED! She was hot, she was tired, she was hurting, and she was exceptionally pissed off!

Here she was,

tensing, sweating, and gasping,

in a bright white room,

at two in the morning

propped up on a table,

in a unsettling position somewhere between sitting up and lying down,

wearing nothing but a thin robe,

feet situated in ridiculous metal stirrup-like mechanisms,

with a wincing sloth boy gripping her clenched hand,

and a pink-haired medic monitoring between her spread thighs.

If she could have focused on anything other than the pain, her first action would have definitely been to grab the closest sharp object and slaughter every person in the room.

"Temari, you're doing great." the young female medic encouraged, though she sounded more informative "Just keep it up. Keep pushing."

_Oh sure, that is SO easy for you to say, Bitch! _

"Come on, I can already see the head!" her voice was more excited now "After you get the shoulders out, the rest will be easy."

_Shit, Sakura. Is that supposed to make me FEEL BETTER?!_

It certainly gave her the incentive to keep going. At least _something_ was emerging and she wasn't pushing likey crazy for _nothing_!

"Alright, the...head...is...OUT! One more push, Temari! One more push!"

By now, the speed of the Sakura's excited breathing could almost match that of the pained very-soon-to-be mother's own rapid gasps, so unlike the blonde sand ninja's boyfriend, who couldn't seem to let in even one breath as he anxiously wrapped his free hand over their tightly interlocked ones and gaped at what was happening before him.

Taking in a final deep breath, Temari gave one last determined shove!

"That's it! That's it!" Sakura cried out as the baby somewhat twisted out of its mother and into the medic's waiting hands. "I've got it! It's here!" she evened out her breathing as she cut the little newborn's cord "You did it, Temari. It's over now. You did it."

_Thank god_ was repeated over and over again in Temari's mind as she closed her eyes and laid her head back, gulping in huge amounts of air into her exhuasted, drenched body. She heaved so heavily, she could barely feel her lazy, but loyal lover's fingers smooth aside her bangs from her sticky forehead and replace them with a gentle, tender kiss.

She couldn't help but smirk _I bet he's crying again._

Sure enough, when she slowly opened her eyes, she could see signs of moisture glazing over his dark brown orbs, a small smile gracing his face.

"Man," he said "**_that_** must've been a drag."

_(Sigh) Still the same Crybaby Shikamaru._

Her worn out body begged to relax, but her mind was eager to see the new life she had just brought into the world. She allowed Shikamaru to help her sit up, trying not to grimace at the lingering aches, and came nearly face to face with a smiling Sakura.

In her arms was a squirming, fluffy bundle.

A blue one.

"A boy." Sakura confirmed. She gently handed the bundle into his mother's waiting arms "Didn't even cry. Just came out and looked around a bit. He's definitely _your _kid, Shikamaru."

--------------------

He snorted and looked at the tiny child Temari was cradling close to her chest. Ever since he was little, Shikamaru had thought he had his life perfectly planned out:

Become an average shinobi.

Marry a normal girl.

Have a daughter and then a son.

Retire when the girl married and the boy became a ninja.

Then live a peaceful life prior to dying before his wife.

Well, nobody's life turns out exactly the way they plan it, and some strategies have to be altered somewhat under different circumstances. When he had first designed the simple layout of his life, he had never expected to befriend the rough female from the Sand Village, much less develop an intimate relationship with her.

For four years they had been friends, and for one and a half they had been lovers.

Temari and Shikamaru were both ambassadors to their respected countries and they would spend time with each other whenever they were requested or sent to the other country (which happened more frequently after the Hokage began to suspect something was up).

It seemed a weird circumstance. He had never really asked her out and she had never bothered to either. They simply just began to see each other more often and went to meals or 'practiced strategies' (which meant playing a board game or training with each other).

The only indication of when the relationship had started was a mutual kiss the couple had shared a morning when Temari had to journey back to her home.

The rest had just happened smoothly and naturally.

They had never made an actual public announcement of their relationship, as they saw it was none of any one else's business (or perhaps Shikamaru had just been too lazy and Temari too stubborn).

Of course, everyone had found out and constantly teased them, and, yes, they referred to each other as 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend,' but it was far from the mushy, being-affectionate-all-the-time love story that Ino so often dreamed about.

True, it wasn't a lovey-dovey relationship, but it wasn't a stoic one either.

They still had fun.

They laughed.

They made out.

She had a small bit of him wrapped around her finger (though not as badly as his parents).

It was still a romantic relationship, just in a more down-to-earth, practical way.

It was unique.

Special.

And for them, it was perfect.

However, when two (one of which just barely reaching adulthood) unmarried ninja (who haven't even thought about starting a family yet) from two distant countries become careless, things can go too far.

They had.

A few times, in fact.

And here was the result of one of them.

Shikamaru knew he would never forget that day when he had nearly been sliced to bits by a certain angry kunoichi yelling "YOU IDIOT!!" when he had just approached the Sand Gate entrance.

If said kunoichi's youngest brother had not quickly built up a sand barrier around him, he would have ended up as nothing more than scattered body parts and blood stains on the desert sand.

However, when Temari had told him she was pregnant, **_with her brothers in the same room_**, he hadn't been so sure if he wasn't better off dead.

Even now, Shikamaru still didn't know if he should've been shocked or relieved when he wasn't immediately bombarded with sand and puppets the second the words left Temari's lips.

During a long thick silence, Gaara just stared at the couple with his arms crossed, looking as indifferent as ever, while Kankuro gaped open-mouthed at them.

"Well, Temari," Gaara said finally "do you want us to kill him?"

Shikamaru couldn't recall a time when he had been more nervous (or scared) than at that moment.

This wasn't a joke; it was an actual question.

It wasn't directed at him as a "I hate you for what you did to my sister." It was to Temari as a real "Are you angry and want me to kill him?"

She had obviously, and fortunately, replied a negative. It was later that day when the arrangements were made by the Kazekage and Hokage.

While Temari would remain in the Sand Village and stay off missions until she would deliver, Shikamaru would return to Leaf and come back to stay in Sand for a while a few months before the due date.

Until then things would go as normal.

The only thing Shikamaru requested was that Sakura be the midwife. He trust the Hokage's apprentice with his life and would only be comfortable if she were the one to deliver his child.

It was agreed and Sakura arrived at the Sand Village two days before the due date.

And now, what turned out to be _four _days later, here she was in the Sand Hospital's delivery room with the two expecting parents, instructing them both on just what to do.

Well, _now _it was four days since Temari had been in labor for hours.

Even _that_ was contrary to his plans, as he had expected his first child to be born in the afternoon rather than early in the morning.

But as Shikamaru stared at the woman he found he deeply cared for and the tiny newborn that he immediately knew he loved, he didn't mind one small bit.

Sure, he was a shinobi that was considered far from average.

Okay, so he wasn't married to the chosen girl (yet).

And, fine, his first child had turned out to be a boy instead of a girl.

_So what? _His plan was still working out, just in a different way.

As he wrapped an arm around his lover's shoulders, he decided, probably for the first time in his life, that this wasn't such a drag.

--------------------

Temari had her thoughts elsewhere as she looked at her baby son. She could see Shikamaru's black hair just beginning to grow on the child's head, but it was her dark blue eyes gazing up at her through tiny dark lashes.

Due to the relaxed look on his face, she assumed that he would take after his father. But she could see, even now at such an immensely young age, his eyes held a certain alterness that that she herself possessed, as if he was paying the utmost attention to his surroundings.

Temari felt herself chuckle _That's my boy._

Her boy _and _Shikamaru's.

A child of the sands and of the leaves.

The firm link between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.

"Tatsuo." she said.

"Huh?" Sakura and Shikamaru turned their attention from the newborn to look at his mother.

"His name." she told them, her own gaze still on her son "'Dragon Man.' A creature of both the wind and fire."

"Not Shika-something?" Sakura asked as she reached for a clipboard, looking up at Shikamaru "I thought that was some kind of tradition in your family?"

Temari looked up to see her boyfriend still with his eyes on her, looking for a sign of some sort. She was tempted just to throw him her 'Agree with me or face my wrath' face, but she held herself back. This was his child too and he deserved to have an opinion.

_Even if **I **did all the hard work _her mind grumbled.

Instead, she just gave him a small smile that simply said 'What do you think'?

After a minute, he gave a grin of his own and nodded as he turned back to Sakura.

"Thinking up something else would just be a drag. Tatsuo is fine by me."

Sakura chuckled as she wrote down the name on the clipboard. Temari and Shikamaru gave each other one last smile before they gazed back down at their new son, ignoring the medic's muttering other information as she recorded it:

"Name: Nara, Tatsuo, Born: 8th of April, Time of Birth: 2:14 A.M..."

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"He's WHAT!?" the parents shouted simultaneously.

It was day after little Tatsuo's birth when Sakura had completed his first physical. While his son was off getting his check up, Shikamaru let Temari rest as he called their family members and friends to tell them the news.

He had just informed his waking girlfriend that her brothers were arriving the next day to visit, when Sakura had come back in and handed Tatsuo back to his mother, an unreadable expression on her face.

When Shikamaru questioned her about it, her answer caused them both to cry out. Sakura knew they shouldn't be shouting in a hospital, especially in _this _part of it, but this _was_ a pretty big shock after all. She just stood patiently and waited for the parents to say something, letting the information sink into them.

The stunned couple honestly didn't know what to think. They just stared like idiots at the pink haired kunoichi before Temari finally spoke up.

"Are...are you sure?"

Sakura nodded.

"I gave him an advanced going over, twice in fact." she said calmly "I even got your usual medic's opinion and he agreed with me. I'm positive." she then tried to give them a reassuring smile "But everything else looks great! He's healthy and he's in perfect form, it could be _a lot_ worse than this."

Temari knew that this was true, but it wasn't a very big consolation at this moment. Of course she and Shikamaru still loved their precious child and would always be there for him and support him, but...they had hoped he could follow in their footsteps and become a shinobi one day.

_Especially the ever-planning Shikamaru _she thought to herself.

But how could he now that they knew he was...deaf?

"But...how?" she heard Shikamaru say. His voice still held a clear tone of disbelief.

She didn't blame him.

"It was nothing you did wrong!" Sakura affirmed, holding her hands up as if defensively "It just...happens sometimes. It's probably some kind of disorder that pops up in families every now and then, but I can't be sure."

"It must be." Temari commented softly, looking down at her son's sleeping face "I had a relative on my mother's side that was deaf. I think he was also born with it."

"Well...then I guess that could explain it." Sakura stared at the young parents for a second before she turned and made her way to the door. As she began to close it, she gave them one last understanding look "I'll be back in a half an hour to discuss with you about lessons for sign language all of you can take. But right now I imagine that you two would like to talk." With that, she closed the door and gave them some privacy.

As soon as Sakura was gone, Shikamaru turned his face to meet Temari's. He looked unsure of what to say, but she didn't even really know what she wanted to hear.

"Which relative was that?" he eventually asked.

"My great uncle. He was killed in a surprise attack during one of the wars. It was during the night and he couldn't hear what was coming."

"He wasn't a shinobi, though. Was he?" Temari didn't know how to react to Shikamaru's disappointed tone, since she herself was just as upset.

She shook her head sadly, "No. A simple basket weaver."

Silence followed after that.

She wished someone would say something. Sound could give her mind something to concentrate on and distract her mind away from her feelings. But no one could say anything, so she felt a stream of emotions spill out of her heart and drown her entire body in it's currents.

Sorrow.

Anger.

Discourage.

Concern.

Her thoughts were acting just as wild as flew about in her mind like a swarm of flies.

_There isn't much of a chance that he can be a shinobi; the ability to hear can be very important!_

_How will he be treated by other kids? Will they tease him? Will he be shunned and ignored like Gaara was?_

_His life is undoubtedly going be more difficult than usual. He's going to have to pay extra attention to EVERYTHING!_

_...And what's worse, he'll never be able to hear any of the wonderful sounds and music the world has to offer. I...I can't even ever sing or hum Mother's lullaby to him, it'd just be pointless. But, it's all I have left of her...and all he'd ever know of her._

_It's the only motherly thing I can remember learning, the only thing in parenting I knew I could do correctly...and now I can't even put it to use._

She felt all the emotions in her body overflow and they soon enough began to spill out of her eyes.

She couldn't even remember the last time that she had wept. She was usually so strong and so fierce that it was her temper that flared up, not the need to cry. But her hormones, still not completely collected yet, refused to allow her to hold back her tears, and it made her feel totally weak and ashamed.

All she could do was keep her expression completely stoic and let the small streams run their course down her face, not caring whether Shikamaru saw them or not.

But after only a few seconds of silent crying, she felt warm arms envelop her and a kiss was placed on her wet cheek.

"Hey, look, Temari," Shikamaru said, laying his forehead against her temple "you know that I've never been very good with comforting poeple, so I'm just gonna be honest. I know it's upsetting and totally not what we expected, but if he can't be a ninja like us, he still has my family's deer he can look after. It's kinda wrong of us to just expect him to be a shinobi anyway. He should be able to decided for himself, right? Maybe this was a sign of some sort that warned us to be good parents and let our child be himself, instead of pressuring him into something he doesn't want."

As he kept one arm around his lover's shoulders, he reached his other hand toward Tatsuo and carefully cupped his head, gently stroking a thumb over the baby's tiny cheek.

"And he won't ever be alone. He has family. And our friends. You know that that hyperactive Ino is going to gush over him like crazy as soon as she sees him. Knowing her, she's even gonna start planning for his future marriage to the daughter she's so certain she'll have one day. Man, that'll be a drag."

Temari couldn't help but snort at that thought, her emotions beginning to calm down.

"We'll make this work, Temari. There's nothing wrong with him being deaf, it's just gonna take some time to adapt. It's not gonna be easy for any of us, especially not for him, but I've never known you to back down from a challenge and I'm sure that any kid of yours is bound to be the same way."

His warm little speech comforted her and she was finally able to keep her tears at bay. She also couldn't help but be surprised.

She hadn't heard Shikamaru speak so sincerely since that day he had returned from his first leadership mission and swore with tears running down his face that he would improve and become a better leader for his friends.

And she had never heard him say so many reassuring words at one time before .

Temari sniffled and nodded before her face turned to meet Shikamaru's. She captured his lips in a brief, but tender kiss and then laid her forehead against his.

"I guess." she sighed, looking into his dark eyes "But a _deer farmer_? And marry that annoying blonde's kid? Are you serious? You're even more pathetic than I thought."

He smiled at her, knowing she was just trying to tease him.

"Well excuse me, Woman, but who was the _crybaby_ this time?" a snap at his nose followed his playful jab, one that just barely missed it's mark.

"You'd better be careful." Temari grinned smugly "I can still finish up bellowing threats and insults at you. Even in front of the kid, since he won't be able to hear me anyway."

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When she was a girl, Temari had acted so tough that she thought that no guy but a strong, thrill-seeking warrior would be willing to take her on as a wife.

All through her childhood, it was Temari's dream to always live in the Sand Village, and become the best wind sorceress that the people of the desert had ever known.

And at the time of Tatsuo's birth, Temari claimed that she would never attempt to have another baby again, saying that she didn't ever want to feel the pain of childbearing again.

If someone would've have told her that she'd end up marrying a shiftless, lazy shinobi, moving to his family's deer farm in the Leaf Village, and having a second child only a year after the first one, she would have snorted in their face.

Yet that is exactly what had happened.

Months after Tatsuo was born, Temari and her boyfriend decided to marry and move to his residence in the Hidden Leaf Village. She had become a citizen of her new home and it was then she had forced herself to settle down for a while until at least Tatsuo was old enough not to need constant attention.

It would be toture to live a ninja-activiy-less life for so long, but she knew her first duty was as a mother.

Each afternoon, a tutor would visit the members of the Nara family and teach them sign language. Temari and Shikamru found they could adapt to it quickly, since they had been taught to make certain signs to perform jutsu, and it was just a matter of which sign meant what.

The plan was that after her baby got a little older, she would leave Tatsuo in the care of his grandmother (where he would get a daily session with the sign tutor) and work as a teacher at the Ninja Academy with her husband.

But that strategy had to be revised slightly, really just moved back, when Temari once again became pregnant.

This time, it was a girl and unlike her brother, she was not deaf. She turned out to have sandy hair, like her mother, and her eyes later turned out to darken into brown as she got older.

Since naming a child with some kind of reverence to a deer _was_ a tradition that they had ignored with their first child (a matter in which Shikamaru's father wasn't too thrilled about), they decided to call her Kojika, which was close enough as it meant 'fawn.'

This was the new Nara family: Shikamaru, Temari, their son Tatsuo, and their daughter Kojika.

Here was the beginning of a new generation.

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A thirty five year old Temari couldn't help but think back on the past fifteen years as she watched daughter and son spar.

Yes, her daughter _and _son. The boy who had proven to be more incredible and talented than anyone had ever thought possible.

Like his mother, Tatsuo had proven to very gifted with the use of air. So gifted, in fact, that he could actually build up his chakra in the nerves his inner ear, _feel _the sound vibrations, and practically hear something by the amount pressure he felt.

He couldn't exactly make out words, but he could notice when someone shouted or if something was approaching him from behind or even sometimes tell who or what made a certain sound by the inflections of the sound waves that would normally serve as the pitch.

All of this knowledge, along with his ability to controll the air, made him able to not only 'hear' sound waves, but manipulate them, too.

He could change certain noises to sound like something else by controlling the way the wave moved through the air and making it have a different pitch and even speed.

He could raise the pitch so high it could be painful to the ears.

He could jumble the waves together to make them sound like a bunch of gibberish.

He could even sense whispers or things far away, as long as he could reach the sound wave and force the air to move it closer.

Also, because he hadn't always had this ability perfected, being deaf had made him more aware of his surroundings at a very young age. He usually could see what other people didn't notice and he heavily relied on sensing presences.

The remarkable young man had also learned to lip read and was even able to talk with his signs just clearly enough for other people to understand. Only his family knew sign language fluently and just a few of his friends knew enough to get by, so this proved to be very useful to both him and to whomever he was communicating with.

With such noteworthy talent, habitual ability to make perfect and almost instant hand signs, and a natural appitude for learning quickly, Tatsuo had accomplished what his parents had thought improbable and nearly impossible: He had been allowed to become a shinobi.

He truly was his father's son; a prodigy in his own right.

Not to say that his sister, Kojika, was any less talented. She had followed in the footsteps of her father and had become a master of the Shadow Possession Jutsu. She knew how to manipulate wind, as her brother knew how to manipulate shadows, but each had their strong points and this was Kojika's.

She had learned how to manipulate shadows from a very young age, after she had become fascinated with when she had seen her father use it. She had learned the family jutsu very quickly, and now, at the mere age of fourteen, she was improving on it.

She had also become an admirer of her mom's two brothers and had borrowed some of their techniques to enhance her own. She had told her parents her ideas, and they both couldn't help but be amazed that she had even thought them up.

Using a move from her Kazekage uncle, she would cause her own shadow to infuse with the opponent's to expand it, envelop him with the large dark mass, and crush him using 'Shadow Catacomb Jutsu.'

Inspired by her puppeteer uncle, she would manipulate the shadows to turn into strands, attach the them to whatever she wanted, and use them as strings to contorl random object, or even her opponent, as puppets, the same way Kankuro would use chakra strings. This was 'Shadow Marionette Jutsu,' a kind of shadow possession that wouldn't make the target _copy_ the user, but become his (or her) puppet.

She had yet to completely perfect these two new jutsus, but Temari knew it was only a matter of time.

Kojika had also learned to work very well with her uncles and devised strategies that they could use with her father (or her if she was the one around).

She reasoned that Kankuro could bring his puppets closer to a shadow her dad possessed, and her dad could then use _their _(the puppets) shadows to expand upon the ones he was already manipulating.

Gaara could do the same by lifting his sand into small pillars and letting his brother-in-law use the shadows they created.

They were simple plans, but they could prove to be very useful in certain situations.

Yes, both of Temari's children proved to be ingenious, skillful ninja and she and Shikamaru couldn't be more proud of either of them.

In many ways, they were both mixtures of each parent by certain degrees, both in appearance and personality.

Tatsuo looked like his father, with spikey black hair pulled up in a ponytail, a more pointed face, and eyes that were smaller than his mother's or his sister's. But he had Temari's dark azure orbs, and bangs that resembled her own that were only on the right side of his forehead. His face looked more gentle than Temari's, but definitely more alert than Shikamaru's.

He was deemed by many of the girls of the village a "cutie," and was known to many of the other villagers as the "Leaf Sound Ninja."

The mixture of his mother's energy and his father's laziness had apparently caused him to have a calm but ready demeanor, like a very toned down version of his mother yet a very toned up version of his father.

He was kind young man with a good sense of humor who usually acted very polite, but he did have a tendency to be competitive, especially when he was trying to prove himself. He was also very protective of his younger sister, even though she was more than capable of handling things herself. When it came to competition and his sister, his mother's side clearly shown through.

All in all, he was a mature young man that had attributes of both strength and gentleness.

Kojika, on the other hand, was the image of her mother and more of a spitfire. Her sandy, spikey hair was pull back into a ponytail rather than up, and the bangs _she_ possessed were on the left. Like her brother, she wore earrings that looked like tiny kunai on her lobes, but she also had three little hoop earrings on the outer rim of her ears.

She was also widely known as attractive, but many of her admirers were usually kept away due to either wariness of or respect for her protective older brother (which annoyed her to no end, as she ironically had a crush on the son of a certain, blonde former teamate of her father's).

Everyone would admit that it was quite a sight to see when Kojika's large, black-rimmed eyes lit up with exciment and her dark orbs (that so reminded everybody of Shikamaru's normally dull brown irises) flashed with so much energy and ferocity when it came time for a fight. But if it was a fight or something else that she didn't want to be bothered by, she usally needed to be talked (or thrown) into it.

Rather than mixing, Shikamaru and Temari's different personalities more like clashed when it came to their daughter.

Instead of the toned down and toned up, she was the extreme of both. She would fight with all she had and enjoy every moment of it, but she wouldn't even try to bother lifting a finger if it was a fight (or a chore) that she didn't want to do. Kojika liked being in control of things and if something seemed like it was too much trouble, she would just follow her father's lazy example and lie back like nothing was going on.

Most people would call it selfishness, but that isn't what those who really knew her would consider it.

People who are selfish care only about themselves and never bother to help anyone out unless it benefits them in some way. Kojika might like things to go her way, but she wasn't an insensitive person.

Rude, yes.

Stubborn, uh huh.

A bitch at times, definitely.

But not selfish or insensitive.

If someone was in trouble or if it was a dire situation, Kojika wouldn't hesitate to rush in to help. If she actually hurt someone with her smart remarks or her actions, she would apologize to them and refrain from doing the same hurtful thing again. And she could be reasonable at times and occasionally do a random good deed or two for someone.

She just didn't like doing things that she saw as unnecessary and it was her genes more than anything that gave her firm stubborness.

But something that both siblings had in common was that they dearly loved their family. Even though they ordinarily each were off doing their respective (and usually seperate) jobs as ninja and they didn't see their family in the Sand Village very often, they were all very important to each other and made sure they at least saw one another as often as they could.

Temari had grown up in a broken family and she knew how precious keeping one truly was. She was glad that her children understood that as well and tried to remain a family even now as they grew up and lived independent lives of their own.

Even...when they no longer needed her.

As she watched her two beloved children spar from the window of her home, she realized just how much her little babies had grown into teenagers. They would be adults much sooner than they ever expected. She knew it, because she could still remember when she had been that young.

She recalled how she had been about Tatsuo's age when she had first met Shikamaru and fought him with annoyance at the Chunnin exams, when they had both been mere Gennin and their countries were still on negative terms. It was almost unbelievable that Shikamaru had been younger then than Kojika was now.

It was a time her brother was still considered a cruel monster rather than a respected Kazekage.

A time when the Leaf Village's Sixth Hokage had been nothing more than a loud-mouthed little blonde who barely even noticed the shy Hyuga girl who was now his wife.

When Team Gai, the Rookie Nine, and she and her siblings had all been so young and trained so hard to be the best that they could be.

And Temari and Shikamaru had had no idea that they would end up as a family.

For years they would only see each other as they went back and forth from Wind and Fire country, and now they were married for fifteen years. They had been kids, and now they had kids of their own.

_Kids that'll soon be adults _she sighed _I honestly never expected time to go by so quickly. Did I do a good job as a mother? I only knew a song my mother had and even with that I could only use on Kojika. Shikamaru has made a fine father, there's no doubt of that, but...me...?_

"Whats going on?" Temari didn't even have to turn her head to know that her husband had come up beside her. She shrugged.

"I'm just thinking about when we were that young."

"We're _still _young." Temari turned her face to him and gave him a dry grin.

"I didn't mean that we're getting old, I'm saying that it seems so long ago. And yet," she brought her eyes back to their kids "only a day ago we were only Chunnin and immature smart asses."

"We're still immature smart asses, too." he put an arm around her waist and followed her eyes to his son and daughter "But, yeah, I know what you mean. Those days could really be a drag. But I know you're not just taking a trip down Memory Lane, Temari. I can tell something's bothering you."

She sighed and knew that she should get it off her chest, as long as she had his attention and he was willing to listen to her instead of taking a nap.

"Did I do okay, Shikamaru?" she could feel him turn to look at her "As a mom? You know as well as I do that we were both unprepared for Tatsuo when he was born, and even Kojika was a surprise. There was no plan to follow, no sure strategy that would let us know if we had done things right. How can I be sure?"

"You're looking at it, you troublesome woman." he answered, sounding like it was obvious "You think that _I_ was the one who taught Tatsuo to control a breeze? Was it _me_ who Kojika needed when she wanted advice about girly things? And I _never _would have had enough courage to give either of our little brats 'the talk.'"

Temari gave a small smirk.

"You're a good mom, Temari. If you need to be sure, just look at our kids."

For a moment, Temari was back in the Sand Village's hospital, holding her baby son tightly to her chest and hearing her lover say warm, comforting words to her. Even when he didn't know it, sometimes Shikamaru knew how to say the right things.

They were so young. _We're **still **young._

There was still so much more ahead. For years they had improvised and found that they didn't always need a strategy for everything. Somethings were just unexpected, and that was just fine with her.

"Thanks, Mr. Crybaby." She smiled as she leaned into her husband's embrace and ran a finger up and down his shinobi vest. "Remind me to show how much I love you later tonight, when the kids visit their grandparents, okay?"

Shikamaru chuckled and gave his wife a small kiss on her forehead.

"Alright then, Mrs. Crybaby. You can be sure on _that _plan."

* * *

(NOTE): Whoa, this was longer than expected! Oh well, I hoped you like it! You can find a picture of Temari and Shikamaru's children on my deviantart page. You'll find a link on my profile to my main page and if you look through my gallery, it's titled Nara Children. I'm sure you'll be able to recognize it ;)! 


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